
Germany is a federal republic in central Europe, stretching from the North Sea and Baltic coasts south to the Bavarian Alps.
Sixteen federal states make up the country, and its capital Berlin still shows traces of Cold War division at the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and surviving sections of the Berlin Wall. Beyond it, visitors follow the Rhine past hillside castles, see Cologne's Gothic cathedral, hike the Black Forest, and use Munich as a base for Oktoberfest and Neuschwanstein Castle.